I fell 20 feet

Kevin, I hope you aren't refering to the sort of system that was being proposed by the CSA and the OHSA late last year? You know, where arborists have to climb like window washers.
 
When I prepare to footlock a tree, if line manipulation is easy,I'll use a doubled line. One branch to rely on. This thread has me thinking...When line placement is more difficult(like with a thick crown,and often)I'll use the srt with my line tied off at the base. More branches offer more backups in case of a branch failure. Now in Treemann's case, he checked his branch, and off he went like we all do. It would be no fun to be tied into a srt set up and have a branch that broke barrel down your line only to meet up with that new treebuzz sticker on your hard hat. I would rather take my chances with that then the hard ground. P.S. I could never abandon footlocking, I've practically forgotten how to bodythrust more than 15-20 foot at a time. Maybe you meant trusting a single limb Mark?
 
Brian- thanks for reporting for us. It's something to keep in mind next time I'm about to footlock up a branch that is a tiny bit suspect.

(Your Blaze is getting spliced&whipped today!)

Take it easy man.

love
nick
 
Treemann,

Hope your recovery is coming along well.

Did you ever determine WHY that limb broke with you?

Did it break at your TIP, 3'-4' from the trunk, or did it break at the trunk?

I am still curious.

Thanks and let us know how you are doing.
 
Glad to here you're alright.

I must say that I have no experience with that species but we do have some unpredictable trees here, some eucs are snappy.

I always try to set up at a union, preferably off the main trunk.

I think if you set up 3' to 4' out you are putting a lot of leverage onto the union where it joins. If your rope didn't slide down to the union then you may have also had a branch with little incline ... perhaps growing out relatively horizontal.

Whilst isolating the branch is a technique we all prefer perhaps it wise to include some others, providing they are above your working point.

A bounce test is good, best to tie of one end to the trunk and then bounce it with 2 guys so in effect you are putting the weight of 4 guys on the branch. However this is only a short burst compared to when you ascend. Similar to metal fatigue the branch may be slowly giving way.

Personally, I am very wary of setting up where there's no unions, many times I will climb up from a certain point or set redirects on the branches with the primary point in a stronger union. Not trusting the trees is what I'm on about, stacking the odds in your favour is better. Of course knowing your wood is vital, like a 5" dia Leopard tree branch here would hold a horse, but the other day I pruned an Albizia and it was snappy as hell, so I ran 2 crotches and a redirect.

Be careful mate, stack the odds in your favour, small wood is risk wood.
 
Treemann, great to hear your injuries aren’t as bad as they could have been.

I guess I’m from the old school. I was taught (DdRT technique) to NEVER tie your lifeline into a limb on the same side of the tree you intend to ascend – always ascend the tree on the side opposite your tie-in point. Because should the branch fail, then you still have the stem of the tree to hold you. Obviously, in SRT technique, this is a difficult practice to follow, except if the line runs through multiple crotches.

Of course following this DdRT technique religiously can be quite a relatively large expenditure both in time and energy compared with SRT technique or DdRT technique on the same side of the tree, especially in tall, multi-branched trees. But in our old-fashioned ways, we usually used wooden ladders to get a jump into the tree, and then monkey fist once, twice or sometimes thrice in the big White Pines to a good tie-in point. Yes, even still this technique is relatively slow and laborious, but the nagging worry that your tie-in point might suddenly snap is a BIG worry that’s eliminated from the risk equation of climbing.

Then of course there’s the concern of doubled loading forces by those who use SRT by anchoring the running end of the climbing line below. It seems it’s bad enough to not quite trust a suspect limb on single forces, let alone doubled.

And I know Tom D espouses the SRT system, but this is yet another criticism I have for the system, especially for those climbers who are not very experienced.
 
I have been busy lately. THe branch pulled out of the trunk. There was no included bark and it appeared to be well attached. I forgot my camera the day I went back to finish the job so I don't have any pictures. From my experiences I can not determine why the branch failed.
 
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